Lost Ark's first Legion raid, Valtan, is coming to the western game later this month

Valtan, Lost Ark's first Legion raid, will release on western servers later this month.

In a new blog added to the game's official website, developer Smilegate confirmed that the first Legion raid - described as "difficult team-based activities that require teamwork to understand and execute the strategy necessary to counter each Legion Commander's unique characteristics, abilities, and mechanics" - requires an item level of 1415 for normal difficulty and 1445 for hard.

"Valtan will introduce the first Legion Raid into the western version of Lost Ark. Legion Raids are difficult team-based activities that require teamwork to understand and execute the strategy necessary to counter each Legion Commander's unique characteristics, abilities, and mechanics," the blog post explained.

"As Legion Raids are challenging and take time, there are gates (or checkpoints) that will save player's progress as they advance through the Raid. Valtan is an eight-player Legion raid, has 2 gates, and introduces a swathe of new mechanics. Players will need to be item level 1415 to attempt normal difficulty, and 1445 for hard.

"The Valtan Legion Raid will also introduce a new rarity for gear - Relic," the post continues. "Relic gear can be crafted from materials earned in the raid. It provides more impactful armor and weapon bonuses, alongside bigger stat bonuses and more engraving nodes on accessories."

The post also detailed the Deskaluda Guardian raid, and explained that Guardians are powerful entities "that can tip the scales toward good or evil" and "must be vanquished before they usher in an age of darkness". As prior Guardian Raids, this can be tackled alone or in a party of up to four players. 

The blog also revealed details of the new Destroyer Advanced Class, which joins Berserker, Paladin, and Gunlancer. They wield a fearsome hammer and can "bend gravity to their will" in order to slow, launch, push, or pull enemies out of - or into - their path. 

For the full details, including information about additional content scheduled to drop in May, head on over to the official website. 

ICYMI, Lost Ark players without verified Steam accounts "in good standing" may find their accounts restricted as part of Smilegate's ongoing battle against bots.

Smilegate has "been hard at work on crafting effective tools and methods to identify and remove bots from the game", banning over a million "bot" accounts from its servers in March. 

Lost Ark may not have been out that long, but it's already one of the biggest games to ever hit Steam. Within 24 hours of release, it clocked up so many players that it now boasts the second-highest concurrent peak ever on Steam, so if Lost Ark's phenomenal success has taken you by surprise, you may find Ali's article, What is Lost Ark and Why Is It Blowing up on Steam? a helpful read.

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